NEW DELHI: The Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill held its marathon first meeting on Thursday amid objections by opposition MPs over a host of provisions in the proposed law as the Union minority affairs ministry made a presentation.Heated words were exchanged at times during the meeting but members from various parties sat through several hours, recording their views on the provisions of the Bill, offering suggestions and seeking clarifications.The Trinamool Congress’ Kalyan Banerjee, Sanjay Singh of AAP, Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and A Raja of the DMK were joined by some other opposition members in raising questions over the need for several clauses, including the move to give more powers to the collector and have non-Muslim members on Waqf boards.There was a view among the members, some of them said, that the ministry was not “adequately prepared” to address the queries raised in the meeting.The next meeting of the committee will be held on August 30, a member said.Committee Chairperson Jagdambika Pal assured the members that the panel would speak to all stakeholders, including various Muslim bodies.The 31-member committee has been tasked by the Lok Sabha to scrutinise the contentious Bill, which has drawn protests from the opposition parties and Muslim organisations.The representatives from the minority affairs ministry were expected to brief the committee on the “amendments proposed on the Bill”, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.
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